Friday, January 15, 2016

Each year five legends are inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The Landmark Award and Squier-Hall Award are also presented.

Landmark Award Winner - Harold Brasington (b. 5/10/09 - d. 2/4/96)

Hometown: Darlington, S.C.

Laughs. Those were the only responses elicited by Harold Brasington when he showed members of his Darlington, S.C. community plans to build a superspeedway in the small southern farm town. But

Brasington had the last laugh. The South Carolina businessman, who believed in Bill France’s fledgling NASCAR business, created the sanctioning body’s first superspeedway - a one-of-a-kind egg-shaped oval, paved on an old cotton and peanut field.

Expecting 10,000 fans to show up at Darlington Raceway’s first competition on Labor Day of 1950, 25,000 spectators showed up for the inaugural Southern 500 – NASCAR’s first 500-mile race. A mega-event was born. Darlington's success inspired Brasington to extend his reach north -- to North Carolina.

He employed his track building and promoting expertise, helping in the creation of Charlotte Motor Speedway and building North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina.

Squier-Hall Award Winner- Steve Byrnes (b. 4/14/59 - d. 4/21/2015)

From 2001-14, Byrnes served as a pit reporter for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races on FOX. He also served as a studio show host and appeared on various programs.

Prior to joining FOX, Byrnes hosted a variety of NASCAR programs including Inside Winston Cup Racing with Ned Jarrett and Darrell Waltrip’s Racers on TNN. He also worked as a pit reporter for CBS, TNN and TBS.

His courageous battle with cancer served as an inspiration to the NASCAR industry, fans and his peers. In April, shortly before his passing, Bristol Motor Speedway named its Sprint Cup race the Food City 500 In Support of Steve Byrnes and Stand up to Cancer.